Dudley, MA to Boston, MA (58 miles)

We made it!!!!! Ta daaaa!!! We donned our rain gear and set out for our last day of riding. Our first stop was at Carl's Diner in Oxford, MA. We impressed our waiter with the obscene quantity of food we consumed as most can barely clear 1/2 their plate and we licked ours. Little did he know, we have been training for that breakfast for 3 1/2 months.

The roads into Beantown were beautiful yet got busier as we got closer. Riding in the rain isn't the greatest but we were on a high of excitement (and chocolate chip pancakes). Soaking wet, we dipped our front wheel in the Atlantic Ocean at Carson beach in South Boston.

It feels so good to be done though I'm sure we will get pretty antsy in a day or 2. For now we are going to do some relaxing and eating to replenish our bodies.

Final stats:

Total riding days: 78
Total miles: 5346
Average miles each day: 68.5
Total PB&J sandwiches: 49715492601

Lee, MA to Hadley, MA (54 miles) and Hadley, MA to Dudley, MA (51 miles)

Yesterday Gerry rode out from Dudley to ride with us for the final few days of our trip. We met him just outside of Amherst and went to a few of Lindsey's favorite restaurants to celebrate the reuniting of team Frollard. At 'the loose goose' we had some awesome sandwiches, and then headed to 'the pub' where Lindsey used to work. A cold beer and a grapefruit vodka cocktail called the 'seabreeze' went down really well after the day of riding.

We then headed over to Kristen, Brian and baby Laney's house for the most amazing dinner. Brian is a butcher and great cook, and had prepared for us an amazing meal with prime rib, shrimp, pasta salad, and lamb. Delicious!!

We left Kristen'a house around 8 to start our short day to get to Dudley. We had hoped to drop by Moe's school to say hi to her students, but unfortunately Lindsey got a flat tire about ten miles from school, so we didn't make it. Hopefully the last flat of the trip, I think we've each had around 8 since we set out.

On to Boston to finish tomorrow!!!

Rensselear, NY to Lee, MA (48 miles)

Last night we stayed with a really interesting warmshowers host named Alen. He has travelled many countries by bicycle and shared his stories and pictures with us over a delicious dinner. He fueled us up with pancakes this morning and we set out ready to climb up to our final state border!

We finally made it to Massachusetts!!!!! It was a tough day of riding, the Berkshires are very hilly and it was pretty hot but we were rewarded with friends!!! I was jumping for joy as we rode down Randi and Brendan's driveway. Even Laura drove up from Connecticut to visit for the night. Randi cooked us a Mexican feast while Owen entertained us and Silas drooled on us. :) Joe and I went out for a very yummy ice cream and now we are tucked into bed.

It feels so good to be back in familiar territory (even though that means riding along side the worst drivers in the country)!

Sprakers, NY to Rensselear, NY (58 miles)

The weather was perfect for our ride; it was about 60 degrees when we took off in the morning and stayed cool and sunny all day. We were spoiled by having peach and chocolate pancakes that Roland made before we left - yum!

Today was a relaxed day of riding - it was flat and easy, and we only ended up doing 58 miles. We crossed the Hudson river, which separates Albany from Renaselear, just before the end of our ride. Lindsey had been looking forward to our Hudson crossing as a sign to us having made it east, and back to the river she used to live a few blocks from in New York.

On to Massachusetts tomorrow!

Rome, NY to Sprakers, NY (66 miles)

Yesterday morning we woke up to a huge feast for breakfast that rivaled the amazing homemade spaghetti and meatball the night before. Larry even ran out and bought us a dozen doughnuts from this great little Rome bakery that has been there forever. It was so thoughtful of him since he read our blog and knew that Joe loves donuts!

Well rested and overfed, we left Larry and Patty's following the bicycle directions they have printed out to get their guests back on the bike route. We rode along route 5 which follows the Erie canal and winds through more small towns and farmland. Near the en of the day we met up with our next warmshower hosts Roland and Janet at the local rhubarb festival. We treated ourselves to a piece of the pie that won 3rd place...it was so good!! We then went a bit further down the road to a church built in 1770 where the organ builders daughter was playing the organ in a special concert. It was such an amazing experience.

We then rode the last 15 miles back to Janet and Roland's house accompanied by Janet. Their home was really a little slice of heaven, tucked away in the woods with a natural stone waterfall running behind the house.

Port Byron, NY to Rome, NY (80 miles)

We started the day right today by treating ourselves to breakfast out at the Port Byron diner.  It's great being in diner country again - huge portions of really tasty (and greasy!) food really cheap.  I've been excited for Carl's Diner near Lindsey's folks place since near the start of the trip; they take big portions to the next level - a few quotes from yelp: "Omlettes so big they give you internal bleeding" and "the birthplace of cholesterol".  Can hardly wait for it to start our last day of riding in a week!

The ride today was really flat with a gentle 5mph tail wind, however Lindsey and I both struggled as we were both pretty tired from the start.  It felt like we were riding through suburubs all day.  Hopefully tomorrow will be nicer.

We hit a milestone near the end of our ride today; 5000 miles since we left Berkeley!  Lindsey and I gave each other a high five to celebrate, and in the process of it nearly managed to crash into each other... no harm done though.

Lockport, NY to Rochester, NY (66 miles) to Port Byron, NY (64 miles)

Over the past two days we have traveled half on the Erie Canal towpath and half on scenic roads through small New York villages and farmland. The weather has been blissful and the wind has been at our backs.

Last night we stayed with a wonderful couple, Dale and Sue, in Rochester. They spoiled us rotten with snacks and a feast for dinner finished off with homemade cookies. This morning we woke to a homemade breakfast of quiche, blueberry muffins and more. We were even lucky enough to have all the leftover treats packed up for us! I'm embarrassed to say that nothing made it all the way to camp tonight, it was too tasty and therefore devoured over the course of the day.

Tonight we are camping for the last time of our trip I think. We have warmshowers hosts and friends to stay with for the remainder of nights. How exciting!!! See ya later mosquitos!